Key events
Some thoughts from Thomas Frank. “It’s about getting that consistency in performances,” he says. He can say that again, and no doubt he will. “Big game, we’re ready, we look forward to it… We thought to have Richi [Richarlison] and Kolo [Muani] together could be interesting, hopefully a game-changer.”
Hmmm … maybe he’s going 4-4-2.
Other Guardian live blogs are available. Over on Matchday Live, Billy Munday is your host and Nick Ames is holding a Q&A loosely centred on this match.
If you’d rather have a little less conversation, a little more action, do join Rob Smyth for the big game in the Women’s Super League: Arsenal at home to Chelsea, starting any minute. My entire household has just set off for that one, festooned in scarves and replica shirts. Reader, I married a Gooner.
Kobbie Mainoo is ruled out with a knock, which may have caused panic in the United hierarchy. For the past few weeks, he’s been the last vestige of the United youth system in the first-team squad, maintaining the club’s proud record of always having at least one Academy alumnus there on matchday for the past 88 years. His place on the bench goes to Jack Fletcher, son of Darren, so the record is safe for now.
Amorim says he doesn’t “want to be the guy” who breaks that chain. But he was quite prepared to be the guy who endangered it with a purge of the first team that homed in on home-grown stars – banishing Marcus Rashford, selling Alejandro Garnacho and marginalising Mainoo.
Teams in full
On second thoughts, I suspect United’s false-ish 9 is Bryan Mbeumo, which would allow the other two forwards to play on their usual sides, Amad cutting in from the right and Cunha from the left. Diogo Dalot drops to the bench, so, with Kevin Danso among the subs for Spurs, there may be no long throws for the first hour.
Tottenham Hotspur (probable 4-2-3-1) Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Palhinha, Sarr; Johnson, Simons, Kolo Muani; Richarlison.
Subs: Kinsky, Udogie, Danso, Rowswell, Bentancur, Scarlett, Odobert, Tel, Akhamrich.
Manchester United (probable 3-4-2-1) Lammens; De Ligt, Maguire, Shaw; Mazraoui, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dorgu; Amad, Cunha; Mbeumo.
Subs: Bayindir, Yoro, Heaven, Ugarte, Dalot, Mount, J Fletcher, Zirkzee, Sesko.
Teams in brief: Frank picks two strikers
No striker for United, two for Spurs. Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani both start, with one of them presumably playing on the left. Mohammed Kudus is unfit and Brennan Johnson is on the right, ready to reprise his role as United’s conqueror from the Europa League final.
Teams in brief: Sesko benched
After showing faith in Benjamin Sesko at his press conference, Ruben Amorim drops him to the bench. Usually that means Matheus Cunha playing as a false-ish 9 and Mason Mount coming in at inside-left, but this time the Mount role goes to Amad, with Noussair Mazraoui coming in at right wing-back. So both wing-backs are full-backs (Patrick Dorgu being the other one) and United are more defensive than they have been recently.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the first Premier League game of the weekend. It’s the Sergio Reguilon derby! It’s a replay of the last Europa League final! It can’t be as boring as that was!
Say what you like about Spurs, they are Ruben Amorim’s bogey team (and he has a few of those). They may have won only three home games in the league in the past year, two of them against promoted teams, but the other one was against Amorim’s United (1-0). They have also left Amorim empty-handed in the League Cup (4-3) and that Europa final (another 1-0).
Last season these two famous clubs finished 15th and 17th in the Premier League, keeping each other company on the slide to incompetence. This season they have at least found their way back to respectability: Spurs are up 11 places to sixth while United are up seven to eighth.
But Spurs have only done well away and United, apart from their triumph at Anfield, have only done well at home. United, as soon as they leave Salford, are a mid-table team (tenth in the away table); Spurs, at their own stadium, are still a piece of mouldy cheese (17th in the home table). On form, we can probably expect both of them to lose today.
The good news for Amorim is that his nemesis, Ange Postecoglou, is no longer there to say “Lads, it’s United”. His Spurs hoodoo may have been just an Ange hoodoo. The bad news for Amorim is that since the start of last season Spurs have four wins over United with three clean sheets and a combined score of 9-3. And they have four players who scored twice in those games, although three of them are now injured – James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke. So Brennan Johnson may have to do it all by himself, just as he did in Bilbao.
Thomas Frank needs to decide who’s ready to go again after the 4-0 cruise past FC Copenhagen. Amorim, with no European fixtures to worry about, needs to decide whether to stick with the XI who could only draw at Forest. The sole meeting so far between these managers, at Brentford six months ago, finished 4-3 to Frank. Given that both United and Spurs overhauled their attack in the summer while keeping faith with their defence, something similar seems perfectly plausible.
The kick-off is at 12.30pm (GMT) and I’ll be back soon with the teams.
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